Avocado Alfredo with Shrimp

Whew! This year just started and I'm already worn out! This past week I celebrated my birthday and had an early bridal shower since my in-laws were in town. Such fun! We also went to the Seattle Wedding Show, where I saw a multitude of beautiful dresses, floral displays and more cake samples than I could ever eat. It was a future brides dream/nightmare. I mean, who can fit into their dress after so many free cupcakes?!

With all that out of the way though, I feel comfortable getting started with my New Years resolution - EAT HEALTHY. I'm sure someone out there has a similar resolution (right people?) so I thought I'd share this healthy but ultra delicious recipe.

I might as well explain while I'm here, that I originally thought I should rename this blog to "Cookin with Joe" since I a) am obsessed with Trader Joe's and b) get 90% of my ingredients from there. I'm serious, Joe is all over my house. I mean... That sounds weird... Moving forward! I also made this recipe "fiancee-friendly" which means I used some less healthy ingredients where I would prefer to substitute other things. For example, the pasta I used here is Trader Joe's spinach and chive linguini but this recipe can easily be made into an entirely raw dish by using thin ribbons of zucchini as a substitute as I've done many times before. So I'll give you the recipe for the sauce, and I recommend using whatever ingredients you feel like to make it as healthy (or not) as you prefer!

Avacado Alfredo

You will need:
a food processor, or a pastry cutter, or your hands if you feel ambitious
2 ripe avocados
2 tbls olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper 
5 leaves fresh basil
1/2 white onion diced
1 tsp finely minced garlic (I recommend using the frozen cubes they sell at Trader Joe's, of course)
and if you have some handy, a couple drops of truffle oil makes this dish that much more delicious

Now lets make it!
This is where this recipe gets SUPER COMPLICATED!
Ready? Take your two avocados (after removing the skin and pit), olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and if you have it - the truffle oil, throw it in your food processor and blend. Or chop, or smash to small pieces with your hands. If you want it to be a smoother consistency, add a little more olive oil. If you're using a pastry cutter or your hands, I would chiffonade your basil and just use it as a garnish.
In a small sautee pan, add about a tsp of olive oil, and put on medium high heat. Add your minced garlic and onion and sweat for about 5-10 minutes. Then you can add your avocado mixture to your garlic and onions to heat up before spooning it over your favorite pasta.

note: You can do what I did as well and saute the shrimp or some extra veggies with your garlic and onions to make it extra healthy or extra fiancee friendly.